The Tennessee Star’s entertainment reporter Bethany Bowman was named a member of the Academy of Country Music this week.
“The Academy’s membership is made up of so many essential voices in our Country community, and with our growing membership, the Academy is even better able to serve as a powerhouse advocate for fans, artists, and our industry as a whole,” Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside.
For nearly six decades, the Academy of Country Music (ACM) has remained dedicated “to promoting new artists, artists on the rise and established superstars, while supporting the good work of charitable causes nationwide,” its website states.
Bethany Bowman has featured almost 300 artists and written more than 400 articles featuring artists from Nashville and across the globe at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Her signature profiles are a reader favorite, and so, with the honor of ACM membership, we thought we’d share her story.
Bethany O’Bannon Bowman grew up in and around music. She was born in Gainesville, Florida but soon moved to her hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee. Her father was a renowned College Professor at Lee University. Her mother played the piano and organ at church and held a degree in Classical Organ. Bethany took piano lessons and was in the band at Cleveland High School. She was exposed to all kinds of music, gospel, pop, jazz, contemporary Christian, and even some rock, but never country music.
After relocating to Florida where she worked at the Florida Department of Education, her youngest daughter Julie and her friends would listen to country music. Gretchen Wilson became popular, and Bethany got her CD, Here for the Party. Bethany said she loved the sass. However, there was a more serious song on the CD that wasn’t played much on the radio that was like a gut punch. Bethany said it was like Gretchen knew what she was going through and wrote the song about her. That was her first experience being touched by country music lyrics. She was hooked.
Her first actual Country Music concert was with Toby Keith, she liked his duet with Willie Nelson, “Beer for My Horses.” She loved the words We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds/ Too much corruption, and crime in the streets/ It’s time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground/ Send ’em all to their maker and he’ll settle ’em down/ You can bet he’ll set ’em down. The lyrics were so superior to the pop music she previously listened to.
After moving back home to Tennessee, Little Big Town just was getting started. The breakout song was “Boondocks.” The only other person she ever heard say that word was her dad when he described where she grew up. Their harmony was and still is amazing. The Chattanooga Kidney Foundation had yearly fundraisers at the Tivoli where they had acoustic sets and she saw artists like Montgomery Gentry, Luke Bryan (when he had one hit), and Randy Houser whom she would eventually interview.
In 2007, Bethany bought her first car with satellite radio and would listen to Storme Warren at Sirius XM’s The Highway every chance she could get. By the time she and her husband moved to Nashville in 2011, she was fully immersed in country music. With all the artists playing, she was like a kid in a candy shop buying concert tickets. At the time, the Tennessee Star was just getting started. Her husband was already writing education-related editorials for them. Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy suggested that she write about country music since she attended so many concerts.
Even though Bethany had written for the school paper and yearbook in high school, she had never written about country music. But she had a degree in education and knew the basics of writing a story.
Initially, it was a learning experience. However, Nashville has an abundance of struggling singers/songwriters who are just trying to make it. These new artists, and artists on the rise, were eager to tell their stories. These last five years she has figured out a unique way to tell their stories. Besides country music, Bethany has covered quite a bit of Bluegrass, Americana, and even pop.
When the pandemic hit, artists – just like the rest of us – were stuck at home. They were working on music and had no way to get out and sing. So many talented people call Nashville their home. Bethany got more and more requests to the point where she now must limit who and what she writes about. Some of the lesser-known artists are outstanding and she is thrilled to tell their stories. Besides that, you never know who is going to make it big.
Bethany has been privileged to interview some more experienced artists and they have fascinating stories as well. And while she doesn’t go to as many big concerts, like many of the locals, she still enjoys the smaller venues like the Listening Room, the Locale, Third and Lindsley, and even the Grand Ole Opry where she and her husband JC regularly hear the artists she has featured.
Bethany genuinely loves meeting the artists and sharing their stories. She loves the stories behind the songs. More importantly, she truly loves country music and the incredible legacy of so many artists. Country music is really America’s music. To see more of her stories and the people she has featured, check out her LinkTree.
Congratulations to Bethany Bowman, the newest member of the Academy of Country Music.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
